Régiolis

The Régiolis is a category of multiple unit train mainly for the French regional rail market, originally developed by Alstom as part of the Coradia family.

Since 2022, the Régiolis platform has been part of Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF)'s portfolio. The platform had to be sold by Alstom as part of their acquisition of Bombardier Transportation. Bombardier was Alstom's main rival in French regional train manufacturing with its Regio 2N/Omnéo platform, which continues to be produced by Alstom now.

The first train was presented on July 4, 2013, in Aquitaine, and the first commissioning took place on April 22, 2014, on the TER Aquitaine network, more than a year behind the initial schedule.

History

In the 2000s, the delivery of several hundred new trains, X TER, A TER, AGC, or TER 2N NG provided significant modernizations of the regional electrical and diesel fleet. However, in the early 2010s, old types of rolling stock dating from the 1970s and 1980s continued to operate, it became necessary to continue the renewal and growth of the fleet during the period 2013–2022 due increasing TER network usage. This desire manifested itself with a call for tenders from SNCF, for the design of a new type of train, the "versatile carrier" ("porteur polyvalent" in French). Following the Grenelle Environnement and the successful usage of AGC dual-mode equipment, this equipment must not only have a diesel version, but electrical and dual-mode versions, to avoid any usage of the diesel engines where overhead catenary is available.Olivier Constant, Les automotrices bicourant et les trams-trains, dans Le Train, p.81.

While Bombardier Transportation won a few years ago the contract for 700 AGC trains for the TER, Alstom won the contract this time, allowing the manufacturer to manufacture new equipment for French regional traffic. The imagined train, the Régiolis, is offered in electric and dual-mode-bicurrent version, allowing these trains to run on the entire French normal-gauge network, like the B 82500 of the competing manufacturer Bombardier. In addition, a tricurrent version with 15 kV at a frequency of 16.7 Hz is also available, allowing cross-border services to Germany and Switzerland. The Régiolis is presented as "a modular train that knows how to do everything" and proposed in three versions with three, four or six coaches, and three types of development, peri-urban, regional or intercity. Like the manufacturer's AGV, or Bombardier Z 50000 and Regio 2N, the train is designed with an articulated architecture, with the bogies arranged between the cars. + List of orders Region Cars Series Type Service Ordered Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes4 Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional124Z 31500Electric, tri-voltageRégional27 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté4Z 51500ElectricRégional246 Z 5xxxxElectricInterville16 Center-Loire Valley4B 84500Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional3 Grand Est4B 83500Bi-mode, dual-voltageSuburban66Bi-mode, dual-voltageSuburban194B 84500Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional106B 85000Bi-mode, dual-voltageIntercités24Hauts-de-France6B 84500Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional176Bi-mode, dual-voltageIntercités10 Hello Paris6 - - - 13 Intercités6B 85000Bi-mode, dual-voltageIntercités154Z 51500ElectricIntercités9 Normandy6 B 84500Bi-mode, dual-voltageInterville154B 84900Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional10Nouvelle-Aquitaine4Z 51500ElectricRégional224B 84500Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional20Occitanie4B 83500Bi-mode, dual-voltageSuburban254B 84500Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional34Z 54900ElectricSuburban26 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur4B 84500Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional15 Pays de la Loire4Bi-mode, dual-voltageRégional104Z 51500ElectricRégional10361

Operators and routes

Intercités

Nantes – Bordeaux Nantes – Lyon Paris – Granville Paris – Boulogne-sur-Mer Clermont-Ferrand – Nîmes via Le Cévenol Bourges – Montluçon Toulouse – Hendaye Bordeaux – Ussel Bordeaux – Limoges

TER TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Clermont-Ferrand – Lyon Clermont-Ferrand – Moulins – Nevers Clermont-Ferrand – Vic-le-Comte Clermont-Ferrand – Thiers Clermont-Ferrand – Gannat Clermont-Ferrand – Brioude

Léman Express

L1 : Coppet – Genève – Annemasse – Thonon – Évian L2 : Coppet – Genève – Annemasse – La Roche-sur-Foron – Annecy L3 : Coppet – Genève – Annemasse – La Roche-sur-Foron – Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet L4 : Coppet – Genève – Annemasse L5 : Genève – La Plaine L6 : Genève – Bellegarde

TCR Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Dijon-Ville – Dole – Besançon-Viotte Besançon-Viotte – Belfort Belfort – Besançon-Viotte – Lons-le-Saunier – Bourg-en-Bresse – Lyon-Part-Dieu

TER Centre-Val de Loire Bourges – Montluçon.

TER Grand Est Strasbourg – Molsheim – Barr – Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Strasbourg – Bischwiller – Haguenau ( – Soultz-sous-Forêts – Wissembourg) Mulhouse – Bâle Colmar – Metzeral Strasbourg – Offenburg Strasbourg – Mulhouse Strasbourg – Sarreguemines Strasbourg – Nancy / Metz Strasbourg – Roeschwoog – Gare de Lauterbourg Épinal – Saint-Dié Nancy – Pont-St-Vincent – Contrexéville – Culmont-Chalindrey Nancy – Épinal – Belfort Nancy – Épinal – Remiremont Nancy – Lunéville – Saint-Dié

TER Hauts-de-France

Amiens – Laon Paris-Nord – Amiens – Boulogne Paris-Nord – Laon Amiens – Paris-Nord Amiens – Lille-Flandres Amiens – Calais-Ville

TER Normandie Rouen – Dieppe

TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Agen Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Langon Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Hendaye Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Pointe de Grave Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Pau Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Coutras Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Libourne – Coutras – Angouleme Tarbes – Hendaye La Rochelle – Poitiers La Rochelle – Bordeaux-Saint-Jean Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Limoges Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Ussel

TER Occitanie

Toulouse – Agen Toulouse – Carmaux Toulouse – Rodez Toulouse – Mazamet Toulouse – Latour-de-Carol – Enveitg Toulouse – Pau Toulouse – Auch Toulouse – Avignon-Centre Toulouse – Brive-la-Gaillarde.

TER Pays de la Loire

Nantes – Angers Nantes – Cholet Cholet – Angers Nantes – La Rochelle

TER Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Avignon-TGV – Avignon-Centre Marseille – Arles – Avignon-Centre Toulon – Marseille Marseille-Saint-Charles – Miramas via Port-de-Bouc

Senegal 15 Trains Dakar – Airport

Future Operators and Routes

CDG Express The region Ile-de-France has not made orders for Regiolis trains. However, a link located only in this region, will operate by 2024 a dozen trains, specially designed for airport connections. These trains will be operated on the Charles de Gaulle Express, a new line directly connecting the Gare de Paris-Est to terminal 2 of the Paris Charles de Gaulle. These trains will be operated by a joint venture of Keolis (subsidiary of the SNCF) and the RATP.

Paris Gare de-Est – Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

Cross-border services to Germany In 2019 the Région Grand Est ordered 30 Régiolis trains for regional services between France and Germany. Grand Est/Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland/Baden-Württemberg: SPNV-Vergabeverfahren kann starten Eurailpress, 22 December 2021. As of December 2025, the deployment on cross-border services is planned in Spring 2026.

Manufacturing and testing On December 1, 2011, three workers making adjustments on Alstom's private test track in Tronville-en-Barrois (Meuse) were killed by a train under test. This railway test center tests all Régiolis trains.

This train is manufactured at several Alstom sites:

Design: Saint-Ouen Design and assembly: Reichshoffen Engines: Ornans Bogies: Le Creusot Traction chains: Tarbes Embedded computing: Villeurbanne

The Régiolis received approval for commercial operation, issued by the EPSF in March 2014. The first trains circulated in April 2014 in Aquitaine, Picardy, Lorraine and Alsace.

The width of Regiolis and Regio 2N is incompatible with the gauge available in a number of stations. About 1,300 edges of platforms have had to be retouched to clear a few extra centimeters, to allow the passage of these new trains. The cost of this operation is estimated at 50 million euros. While this kind of minimal adaptations of infrastructure to new equipment is routine, the lack of anticipation and the fear of higher prices raised controversy in May 2014.

The first Régiolis, a Z 51500 four car, was introduced into commercial service more than a year behind the initial forecasts on April 22, 2014, in Aquitaine, on the Bordeaux–Agen route. The same day, Lorraine put into commercial service its first two-mode regional train B 84500 between Nancy and Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. Finally, six days later, on April 28, Alsace put into service a bi-mode element peri-urban B 83500 between Strasbourg and Sarreguemines. A month later, May 26, it was the turn of Picardy to introduce its first B 84500 on the Paris-Nord – Laon route.

Incident

As of May 7, 2018, all Regiolis (and Coradia Liner) trainsets are limited to the speed of the "V140" craft (imposing a speed limit of 140 km/h, as well as other speed reductions on certain portions). line). Indeed, during tests carried out in April, it was found, at 160 km/h, that the emergency braking distances exceeded those which allowed the approval of this type of equipment. This restriction, caused by premature aging of the brake linings which will therefore have to be replaced, should be lifted in October of the same year.

Régiolis

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